Leigh Park murder trial: Shaye Groves admits 'losing control' and changing her story about stabbing Frankie Fitzgerald

Shaye Groves, 27, told jurors at Winchester Crown Court that Portsmouth dad Frankie Fitzgerald, 25, was not asleep when she plunged a dagger into his neck during a frenzied knife attack at her Botley Drive, Leigh Park, home on July 17.

This was despite bipolar pagan goth Groves telling her friend Vikki Baitup during a video call that Mr Fitzgerald had been asleep when she killed him. Asked by her barrister Michael Goodwin KC what happened, the defendant said: ‘I video called (Ms Baitup) and told her what happened. I actually told her he was asleep when I stabbed him. I did not tell her what I told the court.’

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Quizzed why she did not tell Ms Baitup the truth, Groves said: ‘I didn’t want Vikki to say, “I told you he would attack you”. I didn’t want her to be right.’

Groves also said she ‘didn’t want to tarnish (Mr Fitgerald’s) reputation’. Pressed on whether she stabbed Mr Fitzgerald when he was asleep, Groves replied: ‘Not true.’

But she added: ‘I lost control for a second…longer than a second to be honest. It was over in a matter of seconds.’

Asked why she did not tell police Mr Fitzgerald attacked her when they arrived at the address, Groves said: ‘I was just taking full responsibility at that point.’

Groves said she was ‘shaking’ in the aftermath of the killing before she rang her ex-boyfriend and then wrapped Mr Fitzgerald’s body in a duvet with the help of her housemate. They then ‘took it in turns’ to put bin bags underneath his body. A pillow was also placed on the deceased’s face.

Prior to that, Groves said she ‘used bleach to clean the wall and floor’ of blood splatters and put the dagger in her bathroom sink. She also confessed to ‘washing blood off me’ but stopped cleaning up before it was finished. ‘I realised what I was doing…I didn’t touch him or the knife and left it all as it was,’ she said.

Groves also told the court how she planned to kill herself following the incident: ‘I knew what I had done and knew I wasn’t going to stick around for the consequences. I made a choice when the police got involved I was going to top myself.’

The defendant also admitted a message she had sent to Ms Baitup early in the morning after the incident in which she said ‘Frankie has walked out’ was in fact not true. Groves claimed she sent the message to provoke Ms Baitup into contacting her when she woke up.

The mum-of-one had told the court how the lovers became involved in a jealous row over messages on each of their phones before Mr Fitzgerald ‘grabbed’ her throat and ‘pinned’ her on the bed leaving her struggling to breathe before she lashed out. ‘I reached out and grabbed an object from the bookcase and hit him in the throat,’ she said.

Groves then plunged the dagger into his heart when she realised he was dead to stop the ‘weird bubbling’ noise from his neck.

(Proceeding)